Hero card
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Deathstalker Rexxar, the first hero card revealed prior to the release of Knights of the Frozen Throne.
Deathstalker Rexxar, the first hero card revealed prior to the release of Knights of the Frozen Throne.- Not to be confused with heroes, the playable characters.
Hero is a card type introduced in the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. Upon being played, a hero card will replace the player's hero, give them a small amount of Armor and replace their Hero Power with a new one.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- When a hero card is played, the player's current and maximum Health remain the same, but they gain a specific amount of Armor[1][2] and their Hero Power is replaced with a new one unique to each card. Their hero portrait changes to that of the hero card, and they gain a new set of emotes unique to the new hero.[3][4][5]
- Hero cards can be randomly generated and Discovered, just like any other collectible card.[6]
- Playing a hero card will always transform the player into that hero, regardless of their current class or hero.[4][7][8][9][10] For example, a Hunter who plays Deathstalker Rexxar will always transform into Deathstalker Rexxar, regardless of whether they are using
Rexxar or Alleria Windrunner as their hero,[4] and a Priest can transform into another class' hero card if they obtain that card from 
Thoughtsteal or Mind Vision.[11]
- In this case, if the hero card is a single-class card, the class the hero card belongs to will replace the player's original class for the purposes of mechanics such as Discover.[12] If the hero card is multi-class or neutral, the player will keep the class that they were before playing the hero card.[13][14] Experience and win count rewarded at the end of the match will also apply to the new class.
- After transforming their hero with a hero card, the player can still play Hero Power-altering cards such as
Sir Finley Mrrgglton or Shadowform normally. However, as hero cards' Hero Powers are not starting Hero Powers, they cannot be upgraded by cards like 
Justicar Trueheart.[15]
- Every hero card except Lord Jaraxxus was excluded from Arena drafting until the drafting system changed in Patch 29.0, after which arena bans are rotation-specific.[16]
- While your hero is Frozen, if you play a hero card, your new hero will be thawed out. This works the same as triggering
Majordomo Executus's Deathrattle.
- Galakrond hero cards have many special rules. For specifics on them, see Invoke#Notes.
Hero cards[edit | edit source]
Collectible[edit | edit source]
- For Wild format listings, see Hero card/Wild format.
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Uncollectible[edit | edit source]
 |
Generated Hero Powers[edit | edit source]
- For Wild format listings, see Hero card/Wild format.
Sources of Hero cards[edit | edit source]
- For Wild format listings, see Hero card/Wild format.
  |
Achievements[edit | edit source]
| Category | Name | Description | Rewards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Gameplay - Alterac Valley - Neutral | From Zero to Hero | Win 10 games after playing a Hero card. | 10  |
| Gameplay - Alterac Valley - Neutral | From Zero to Hero | Win 20 games after playing a Hero card. | 10 |
| Gameplay - Alterac Valley - Neutral | From Zero to Hero | Win 40 games after playing a Hero card. | 20 |
 | Gameplay - Castle Nathria - Priest | I'm You, But Stronger | Discover 1 copy of an opponent's hero card with Identity Theft. | 20 |
 | Gameplay - Paradise - Warrior | Clocked In...The Face! | Attack with your hero 20 times while under the effect of Punch Card. | 100  , 10 |
| Gameplay - Paradise - Warrior | Clocked In...The Face! | Attack with your hero 40 times while under the effect of Punch Card. | 200 , 20 |
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Knights of the Frozen Throne was the first expansion (and card set) to introduce hero cards into Hearthstone.
- While Knights of the Frozen Throne introduced one hero card for each class, they have since been more spaced out, with sets thereafter usually featuring only a single hero card each. According to Principal Game Designer Mike Donais and Senior Game Designer Peter Whalen, making a character a hero card is an effective way of signifying that the character is the central focus of the set and draws attention to the fact that it is a character that players should know and care about.[17][18] According to Whalen, however, this does not mean that they've completely settled on a precedent for how many hero cards they'll include in future sets; the team will likely continue to experiment and do whatever's right for the expansion in question.[19]
- According to Peter Whalen, one design lesson learned since the introduction of the first hero cards is that ones that generate infinite late-game value through use of their Hero Powers (such as Deathstalker Rexxar) tend to feel repetitive and frustrating to play against, especially when they lead to one player slowly losing a game over several turns. As a result, the developers have tried to create less of that sort of experience with later hero cards, with
Hagatha the Witch and 
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius both having inherently random Hero Powers, while 
Zul'jin has most of his power contained in his over-the-top Battlecry with a relatively mundane Hero Power to compensate.[19] - While
Lord Jaraxxus and Majordomo Executus work similarly to hero cards, they were not reclassified as such at the release of Knights of the Frozen Throne. This is due to the fact that they work slightly differently from hero cards; most notably, they set the hero's Health to a predetermined amount rather than retaining the hero's current Health.[20][21] - The Knights of the Frozen Throne death knight hero cards were originally available in the Arena,[15][22][23] but on November 14, 2017, they were removed from the Arena draft pool since "while the Death Knight Hero Cards are exciting and powerful to play, their permanent Hero Power upgrades are hard to combat in a format where answers are limited".[16]
- Hero cards are the only card type so far to only be featured in Legendary rarity. Prior to Showdown in the Badlands, hero cards were all class-specific, with
Reno, Lone Ranger being the first ever Neutral hero card. - Lord Jaraxxus is the first and only minion to be changed from a minon to a hero card.
- Fractured in Alterac Valley was the second expansion after Knights of the Frozen Throne to introduce a new hero card for each class. This expansion also introduced the first ever hero card for Demon Hunter.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
- Card frames
- Card frames without rarity
Death Knight
Demon Hunter
Druid
Hunter
Mage
Paladin
Priest
Rogue
Shaman
Warlock
Warrior
- Dual-class card frames
Warrior/Warlock
- History
Neutral prior to Patch 18.0.0.54613
Druid prior to Patch 18.0.0
Hunter prior to Patch 18.0.0
Mage prior to Patch 18.0.0
Paladin prior to Patch 18.0.0
Priest prior to Patch 18.0.0
Rogue prior to Patch 18.0.0
Shaman prior to Patch 18.0.0
Warlock prior to Patch 18.0.0
Warrior prior to Patch 18.0.0
Patch changes[edit | edit source]
Patch 18.0.0.54613 (2020-07-30): (Undocumented) All hero card frames updated to consider an option for hero cards without rarity.
Patch 9.0.0.20457 (2017-08-08): Added.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Eloise interviews the Hearthstone game designer Dave Kosak [Hearthstone] - YouTube. (2017-07-08). Retrieved on 2017-07-21.
- ↑ Mike Donais on reddit. (2017-07-20). Retrieved on 2017-07-21.
- ↑ Hearthstone: Announcing the Knights of the Frozen Throne. (2017-06-07). Retrieved on 2017-07-07.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 FardHast (2017-07-07). Mike Donais on Deathstalker Rexxar in Trumps Chat. Retrieved on 2017-07-08.
- ↑ Mike Donais on reddit. (2017-07-22). Retrieved on 2017-07-22.
- ↑ Puffin on reddit. (2017-07-08). Retrieved on 2017-07-26.
- ↑ Ben Brode on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Yong Woo on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Yong Woo on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Yong Woo on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Puffin on reddit. (2017-07-08). Retrieved on 2017-07-26.
- ↑ Mike Donais on reddit. (2017-07-20). Retrieved on 2017-07-21.
- ↑ Leo Robles on X (Twitter). (2023-11-04).
- ↑ Zeddy Hearthstone (2025-01-14). Relaunch EVERY Starship with the Jim Raynor Terran hero card! (2:18). YouTube.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ozzie Mejia (2017-07-20). Hearthstone designers talk Knights of the Frozen Throne, Hero Cards, Rogue, and more | Shacknews. Retrieved on 2017-07-21.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Zeriyah (2017-11-10). Upcoming Arena Changes - 11/14/2017. Retrieved on 2017-11-23.
- ↑ Mike Donais on reddit. (2018-03-13). Retrieved on 2018-07-23.
- ↑ Card Reveal Livestream - The Boomsday Project (49:03). (2018-07-23). YouTube. Retrieved on 2018-07-23.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Cam Shea (2019-02-04). Hearthstone's Peter Whalen on Designing Zul'jin and Moving Away From Infinite Late Game Value. IGN. Retrieved on 2019-02-05.
- ↑ Ben Brode on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Puffin on reddit. (2017-07-08). Retrieved on 2017-07-26.
- ↑ Yong Woo on X (Twitter). (2017-07-07).
- ↑ Puffin on reddit. (2017-07-08). Retrieved on 2017-07-26.
